Trustworthy
by Shiggity Shwa
Summary: A brief oneshot between Dan and Charlotte after her return and the helicopter's departure.


_Hey guys. Just a little one-shot with Dan and Charlotte. I'll be back on tomorrow or Friday with another oneshot based on Jack/Kate/Sawyer. Enjoy! _

Trustworthy

Charlotte gathers her red hair in handfuls in an attempt to put it up away from her neck. She hates when she gets sweaty and her hair sticks to the back of her neck like someone glued it in place. They're still in the same clearing, in the same spot where she walked over a ridge and was glad to see two familiar faces even though she barely knows the men they belong to.

Daniel is ahead of her, setting up the beacon again and muttering something just below her hearing level. He was concerned when she came back, but then he started to ramble something about bearings and numbers and he was gone again. She doesn't know him.

Before her, Daniel shoots up suddenly and walks towards where she is packing water into her bag. He glances at the beacon three times over his shoulder in a twitchy movement and when he reaches her, he smiles. She doesn't know what to do with it; it's a weird kind of scheming smile, one that she doesn't want to return. So she won't.

"The payload was thirty-one minutes late," he tells her, his left eye twitching as his eyes run wild on anything but her.

A frustrated sigh escapes her throat as she sits down on a nearby log, "I have no clue what that means." She doesn't glance back up at him; she just keeps working on restocking her bag with the materials Frank left behind.

"Oh," his voice is hoarse and his head juts to the side for a moment, "I, uh," he shakes his head, and then bends his knees still stuttering on his words. Finally he goes quiet for a second and hands her a flare gun that is just out of her reach, "So what's it like over there?"

Something struck inside of her, not exactly fear, but as close to the emotion as it could possibly be. Charlotte didn't like it over there, it was terrifying. She doesn't like it here much either, "The same as it is here."

Dan lets out a laugh, forces it out for her comfort, and his anxiety, "No," he shakes his head, "No, I meant what's the other group like?"

She closes her eyes and takes a deep inhalation through her nostrils as irritation builds within her at his constant questions and his inability to understand the answers; she repeats her answer, though this time her tone is harsher.

His eyes jump up to meet hers, but when they do, they immediately jump to something else. He sighs and raises himself to sit on the log beside her, though they're nowhere close to touching. "I thought they were the bad group."

"There is no good group," she responds almost too quickly and finally finds a spot for the water bottles to lie lengthwise in the bottom of her pack. "They're both divided."

"I don't think they're divided," Dan shakes his head, referring to the only group he knows.

"Then why are there more people at the beach than there are here?" her eyebrow arches in challenge.

"I think," he stops his sentence, eyes squinting as he looks off into the distance at some unmarked object. After a moment he comes out of his reverie, "I think that Jack thought he had our landing all under control."

Charlotte's lips purse as she nods her head, "fine job he did."

"We tried to get to you Char," Dan explains, this time his eyes meeting hers and not leaving, "We found you but then the dog came to us with your tracker and Jack knew the other team got you."

His explanation means nothing to her, what happened, happened and there's nothing they can do about it. But his concern sparks something and before she knows what she's saying she blurts out, "He shot me."

She expects his eyes to grow large, but they don't. She expects him to start off on a stuttering rant trying to ask her seventeen questions at once, but he doesn't. He answers as calmly as she's ever seen him, "The other team shot you?"

"Not the other team, Ben, the guy we're here for. He was there with them and he just shot me," her voice becomes shaky as she remembers hitting the ground and the invisible cinderblock on her chest.

Dan's eyes squint again, "What? Why did?—Are you?—"

"I'm fine," she lies and hides her hands so there's no evidence of her trembling, "I had Miles' vest, but after I got shot they took it from me."

His hands clamp together and he rests them just under his chin, "maybe they think they're not safe," his voice has that faraway tone to it, and she knows his mouth is just spitting out the words his brain randomly generates.

"Do you really think that Jack's people are safe?" She turns her body to face his, hoping to get a reply faster.

He shrugs, shoulders lifting and falling like he can't even feel it, "they seem safe enough."

"All of his people are leaving him," her voice is jagged once again. How can he not see what's happening.

His eyes are half-closed when he finally turns to her, "Char, all of his people are going home."

"What about the girl?"

The question seems to snap him out of his state, "which girl?"

"The one that came with the Iraqi soldier and Miles to rescue me," her voice lowers in case Jack or that other woman returns from the beach to retrieve them. "I saw them come in together. But when we left, she didn't come back."

"Oh," he smiles and rubs the back of his head awkwardly, "That's Kate. She's nice. She talked like we were normal."

"Why did she leave then?" Charlotte questions, not even bothering to learn her name. No one is going to be on this island much longer, why should it matter?

Again he shrugs, though this time around the movement has more thought in it, "Maybe she got bored," he suggested letting his hands fall to his knees, "Maybe she's migratory."

"Maybe she has something to hide."

"You'll have to ask Frank when he gets back," He smiles at the name and continues with his praise, "he knows the manifest like—"

"Like a liquor store? Dan, I don't trust him either. We don't know anything about anyone," when he only stares at her in confusion she elaborates, "I mean he flew the helicopter right into the thunderstorm and keeps talking about a bloody cow. Do you trust him? Do you honestly trust anyone?"

His eyes fly to the trees for a second, and then he turns his attention back to her, "I trust you."


End file.
